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Pro or amateur, it matters not. I don't think we have a thread to discuss various elements of photography like we do with Firearms or crafts. Please feel free to link your work and join up the GWJ Flickr group.

What equipment do you use?
Any tips you can offer?
Resources for learning.
Your methodology not just for taking the shot, but also post processing, organizing, backup, distribution, etc.

I use Picasa for cataloging, tagging, managing, and post processing, which really just means clicking on the "I have no idea what I am doing button" called I'm feeling lucky. Then with a Picasa plugin, I upload them to Flickr.

I did a quick photoshoot of my desktop audio equipment today. Some of them turned out pretty good. I wish I had a tripod as the lighting wasn't great. I cross posted this in the headphone thread.

Nice shots! The blueish light in that second-to-last one stands out a bit, but other than that I think the lighting looks pretty good, actually. I'm a sucker for the wide-open aperture shots like that.

I got this one during Skate with the Canes yesterday, I like the way it turned out, considering I was being rushed through a line at the time:

Music | Blog | RoughneckGeek: I stop reading a thread when Q-Stone becomes the voice of reason.

Here is a selection of photos from a weekend wedding we went to at the end of January. Its taken me a few days/weeks to play with them in Lightroom, but that's been more of a 'figuring it out as I go' exercise. I'd love some feedback.

Here is a selection of photos from a weekend wedding we went to at the end of January. Its taken me a few days/weeks to play with them in Lightroom, but that's been more of a 'figuring it out as I go' exercise. I'd love some feedback.

Very nice shots! I really love this one:

Lens flare can be kinda overused, but it works so perfectly in that one.

Music | Blog | RoughneckGeek: I stop reading a thread when Q-Stone becomes the voice of reason.

On an unrelated note, I'm a stupid person who spends too much money. I preordered new Olympus m43 camera basically as soon as it was announced. I've been following the rumors for a while, and the stats are looking quite nice. MUCH better performance than my current camera (a PEN E-PL1), especially low-light and crazy fast autofocus, which they're claiming is faster than anything else, even DSLRs. (This remains to be seen, but I'm sure it means "fast enough" for me.)

They're expected to ship next month-ish, so it'll be a while, but I am really looking forward to it, especially paired with the 25mm f/1.4.

Music | Blog | RoughneckGeek: I stop reading a thread when Q-Stone becomes the voice of reason.

Lens flare can be kinda overused, but it works so perfectly in that one.

That was just the light on the evening. Nothing's added in there, aside from some adjustments to the contrast, and I'm not really sure I've gotten the levels right. I took several shots angled along that path, and that's the one I'm happiest with.

Some of it is down to chance, too. I was really lucky with the light in the evening after the wedding. I grabbed my camera bag and ran outside and the official wedding photographer grabbed the couple and ran out after me. We were both clicking away furiously.

Thanks for the feedback!

EDIT: Also, I want the Panasonic version of that Olympus. I don't think its out yet, but at least they've released the spiritual successor to the GF1 - the GX1. That's a start, at least.

Great shots, Haakon! My dad, who's become more and more into photography as he's approaching retirement, is continuously telling me that the best time to photograph is around dawn and dusk due to the angle of the light. As you move towards the centre of the day (of if the day is uniformly overcast) then the light is too flat to really get a good picture without actual studio lights and whatnot.

Some friendly (and unknowledgeable!) criticisms:

Love the three of the evening: however, i personally feel that the bench would look better if it was cropped a little closer and with a little more of a width:height ratio. (i.e. higher width value) kinda like this:

Same with the duck.

The sea picture, while the composition is really nice, is too washed out because of that uniform light level i mentioned before. And the black bird is really distracting because of the sharp contrast.

The one with the crab shell is a perfectly fine shot but is a bit uninteresting as there's not much contrast. Maybe a macro of the shell with the rest in the background would have been better?

On an unrelated note, I'm a stupid person who spends too much money. I preordered new Olympus m43 camera basically as soon as it was announced. I've been following the rumors for a while, and the stats are looking quite nice. MUCH better performance than my current camera (a PEN E-PL1), especially low-light and crazy fast autofocus, which they're claiming is faster than anything else, even DSLRs. (This remains to be seen, but I'm sure it means "fast enough" for me.)

They're expected to ship next month-ish, so it'll be a while, but I am really looking forward to it, especially paired with the 25mm f/1.4.

Goodness they look gorgeous. I still use my Grandfather's OM2n and it's probably my favourite camera - they're just joyful to use. The beautiful Zuiko lenses do help of course. I guess only picking one up and using it will tell me if they've preserved the feeling of using an old OM, but they certainly look the part. Let's hope they can live up to the heritage! (and that I can afford one one day).

Even in Canada, having it shipped, and having them pay for duty, it was still $90.
DONE

That is a good deal for Lightroom. I see version 4 is in beta and out pretty soon. Anyone played with that who could compare it to Lightroom 3 and / or Aperture? I've been using Aperture (since it had the $79 deal a year ago) and from a cursory reading there's not a special reason to switch.

Any experience with the Nikon 10-24 f/3.5-4.5G DX? I had the Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 but sold it- it was a bit of overkill on a crop sensor camera, and the 10-24 is less than half the price. I've found myself sadly lacking in the wide angle department since I sold the 14-24. Also, any experience with the 35mm f/1.8? I have and like the 50mm f/1.8, but I think the 35mm will be a better fit for the crop sensor D90 I've got right now.

Even in Canada, having it shipped, and having them pay for duty, it was still $90.
DONE

That is a good deal for Lightroom. I see version 4 is in beta and out pretty soon. Anyone played with that who could compare it to Lightroom 3 and / or Aperture? I've been using Aperture (since it had the $79 deal a year ago) and from a cursory reading there's not a special reason to switch.

I've not used Aperture.
I have to admit I've been using a 'borrowed' version of Lightroom. When I saw this it was my opportunity to go legit. I know 4 is coming out. This will make the Upgrade price easier for me.
I'm a poor photographer. (no double meaning here)

Any experience with the Nikon 10-24 f/3.5-4.5G DX? I had the Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 but sold it- it was a bit of overkill on a crop sensor camera, and the 10-24 is less than half the price. I've found myself sadly lacking in the wide angle department since I sold the 14-24. Also, any experience with the 35mm f/1.8? I have and like the 50mm f/1.8, but I think the 35mm will be a better fit for the crop sensor D90 I've got right now.

Any experience with the Nikon 10-24 f/3.5-4.5G DX? I had the Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 but sold it- it was a bit of overkill on a crop sensor camera, and the 10-24 is less than half the price. I've found myself sadly lacking in the wide angle department since I sold the 14-24. Also, any experience with the 35mm f/1.8? I have and like the 50mm f/1.8, but I think the 35mm will be a better fit for the crop sensor D90 I've got right now.

it's a dream to work with and SHARP. makes doing interiors a snap and Lightroom has a lens-correction module for it. takes out the barrel distortion on cropped images.

Sweet.

I've tried the Sigma 10-20 but I wasn't thrilled with it, and I like to keep with the Nikkor lenses since they tend to retain their resale price a little better than the 3rd party lenses. I haven't, however, tried Lightroom's lens correction module for it, which might improve my opinion.

This is very much a work in progress, but these shots were all, i think, taken with the sigmahttp://marcphoto.ca/

Those are some very nice shots- I think they reflect my photographic preferences in wide angle. I like to use wide angle lenses to get as close as possible to my subjects rather than "getting it all in"...not that one way is in way superior to another, it just might have reflected my dislike for the Sigma as opposed to your preference for it.

Thanks!
The trick to shooting interiors is to make sure your lens is level to the floor, or perpendicular to the walls.
The minute you angle up or down the walls converge.
That is more difficult to correct. Lightroom has some excellent lens correction tools for barrel distortion and converging walls.
This onehttp://marcphoto.ca/featured/light-a...
I had not been exactly level and you can see the walls are leaning out. Raise or lower your camera, not the angle of the lens.

I also like to shoot close with a wide angle. You get some crazy distortion but it can really work.

My next purchase will likely be a portable studio setup, (at least lights, stands, umbrella and or light-box) or a macro lens.
Undecided. I have to buy my Parrot AR Drone Quadricopter before i further my prospective career! Priorities!

I really like these two shots. I was sorely tempted to buy the box and plant.... Just didn't have enough money on me and wasn't sure if they would take cards. I did buy some basil and another potted plant though so it wasn't a complete waste of time!

I cropped this one, the full size is on my flickr account if you want to see it. Not sure I like it, i can almost feel the picture in there somewhere but finding the right bit i want is really hard. I like the space to the left of the fort/watchtower and the decline to its right, along with the rise of the shaded hill. I get the feeling that the clouds actually are in the wrong place - too close to the fort.